It is known in the art that mini-vans, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), and the like, include removable second and third row seating. The seating is typically latched to the load floor/floor pan (hereinafter “the vehicle floor”) by a latch mechanism. When the operator needed to transport large items, the operator, usually with one or more assistants, would have to unlatch the seating and physically remove the heavy, cumbersome seating from the vehicle. This arduous task was overcome with the development of present day “stow-to-floor” seating that is now included in many vehicles. As is known in the art, stow-to-floor seating permits a operator to collapse a second or third row seat assembly into a compact configuration, which is then tumbled about or into the vehicle floor. If the seat assembly is tumbled into the vehicle floor, the operator usually exposes a stowage cavity in the vehicle floor by pivoting a door structure of the vehicle floor into an open position. An exemplary load floor door structure for providing access to a stow-to-floor stowage cavity is described in application Ser. No. 11/045,643, which is under assignment to the assignee of the present disclosure.
As illustrated in FIGS. 9A-9E, a conventional vehicle load floor structure is shown generally at 100 proximate a vehicle floor 106, which is used, in application, for a stow-to-floor seat assembly. The door structure 100 provides access to a stowage cavity, which is shown generally at 125 (FIGS. 9B-9E). The door structure 100 includes three panels, which are shown generally at 102a-102c. The panels 102a and 102b are connected by a first hinge, which is shown generally at 104a, while the panels 102b and 102c are connected by a second hinge, which is shown generally at 104b, while the panel 102c is connected to the vehicle floor 106 by a third hinge, which is shown generally at 104c. 
In describing the movement of the door structure 100, reference is made from the initial positioning of the door structure 100 at FIG. 9A when the door structure 100 is in a stowed position such that the door structure 100 forms an uninterrupted, continuous surface with the vehicle floor 106. Referring to FIG. 9B, the first hinge 104a permits the first panel 102a to be folded over the second panel 102b in the direction of a pivoting arc, A1 (FIG. 9A). Accordingly, the first hinge 104a provides a clearance for the door structure 100 so that a pivoting arc, A3, of the door structure 100 about the hinge 104c does not interfere with a seat bottom cushion 152 of a rear, stow-to-floor seat 150 when the operator, O, chooses to fully expose the stowage cavity 125 (FIG. 9E). In addition to providing a clearance for the pivoting arc, A3, of the door structure 100, the first hinge 104a provides limited access to the stowage cavity 125 for storing and retrieving small items, such as, for example, compact discs (CDs) and the like.
Referring to FIGS. 9C and 9D, the second hinge 104b permits both of the first and second panels 102a, 102b to be folded over the third panel 102c in the direction of pivoting arc, A2 (FIG. 9A). As seen in FIG. 9D, the second hinge 104b provides partial, but greater access to the stowage cavity 125 (compared to FIG. 9C) without pivotably deploying the third panel 102c. Greater access to the stowage cavity 125 provides greater flexibility in stowing and removing larger items to and from the stowage cavity 125, such as, for example, brief cases, travel bags, sports equipment, laptop computers, and the like. Even further, the second hinge 104b was also included in the design of the door structure 100 to permit the operator to gain the partial, but greater access to the stowage cavity 125 when a seat back 177 and/or seat bottom 179 of a front seat 175 is in a reclined and/or fully rearward position. Accordingly, when the front seat 175 is in such a position, the door structure 100 would have been otherwise restricted from fully pivoting about the pivot arc, A3. As a result, the second hinge 104b permits the operator to have at least partial, but greater access to the stowage cavity 125 when the front seat 175 is reclined or in a rearward position.
Referring to FIG. 9E, the third hinge 104c permits the first, second, and third panels 102a-102c to be folded substantially adjacent the seat back 177 of the front seat 175 in the direction of the pivoting arc, A3 (FIG. 9A), to provide full, unobstructed access to the stowage cavity 125. Full, unobstructed access to the stowage cavity 125 provides the greatest clearance for stowing or removing items to and from the stowage cavity 125, such as, for example, the stow-to-floor seat 150.
Although the inclusion of the second hinge 104b is adequate in providing the benefit of partial, but greater access to the stowage cavity 125 without having to fully expose the stowage cavity 125, the second hinge 104b may cause the door structure 100 to undesirably fold like an accordion-style door when the door structure 100 is pivoted in the direction of the pivoting arc, A3. Accordingly, when the door structure 100 is pivoted in the direction of the pivoting arc, A3, the operator, O, as shown in FIG. 9E, typically has to support the door structure 100 in a “two-handed” operation, in which both of the operator's hands, H, are stabilizing the door structure 100 so that the door structure 100 does not interfere with the stow-to-floor seat 150 when the stow-to-floor seat 150 is tumbled into the stowage cavity 125 in the direction of arrow, T. Accordingly, although benefits of having a dual-hinge (i.e., the hinges 104a, 104b) door structure 100 are realized as described above, a stabilized, fluid, one-handed pivoting operation of the door structure 100 about the pivoting arc, A3, can not be realized in view of the fact that the first and second hinges 104a, 104b may cause the door structure 100 to collapse upon itself.
Thus, there is a need for an improved door structure 100 that is cost-effective and sufficiently stabilized with a fluid, one-handed deployment motion while also providing flexible access to the stowage cavity 125 when the front seat 175 is in the reclined or rearward position.